THE TROTTING CASES.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18073, 15 May 1924, Page 13

THE TROTTING CASES.

MOURNED TILL TO-DAY.

ADDRESSES BY COUNSEL.

The hearing of tho All Smoko case before the Supremo Court T»tcrday before Mr Justice Adams. T spite of t fle counter-attraction in the •jj„ the public benches were well ."filed. F6f the afternoon session' they ) *-- e flUed to overflowing, and' when the" Crown Prosecutor and counsel of tie defence were addressing tho jury, there-was a very large and interested tnti. The jury wero kept in custody last night, as was tho caso on Tuesday. This morning Mr Thoma3 will conclude ' iia address, and his Honour will sum

The first witness called yesterday was | Hgrbert Edward Knight, detective, of | Aiicklind, who stated that on January "Ist he took possession of the hide from the witness §elson. lYom the hide he ; cat three pieces, which were sent to the Government Analyst. He also sup- ' plied two pieces of ordinary black home hide to the analyst. Witness saw All Smoke win in the two races at the Otshtthtt Meeting. On the second day the horse did well for a circuit when he met with a mishap —witness thought he over-reached —and went dead lame. Williamson, the rider, dismounted and brought the horse back to the birdcage. The horse in the Courtyard was not the horse that raced at Auckland. To Mr Hanlon, witness said that when he took possession of the hide a circular hole had been cut in the withers.., 2e was on duty at tho race, and was in a position to' sec clearly when the Innovation Handicap was run. He took particular notice of the horse because he resembled a horse witness had previously seen run in Auckland, also on account of the style of the horse and his action. Witness also betted on the horse on the totalisator. Witness noticed that the horse's coat was of peenUar brilliancy; it was black, and round Us eyes were bay rings, and ho had a bay moszle, giving him a peculiar ' appearance.'" He was also bandaged.on bdta forelegrto the knee. Mr Hanlon: Did you not notice that the horse was described as a bay gelding is the racebook! I 'Witness: No. I had the horse in front "of me, and that was more than , the book to me. Mr Hanlon: Ton, a detective, did not noMeo that a horse yon were going to •' back was described as a bay, and yet it was a Mack! ■ * Witness: "3fo, it was* no concern of ike, and I was inspecting the horse, ""jotthe book."- Witness continued there was nothing striking enough to warrant taking action. He followed the hone an to the stall, but the horse was ragged, and p%t into a closed stall. n Here followed amild breeze between , counsel and witness in regard to the typeJof horse-stalls on racecourses. Wifnws'statea that three-quarters of V the static afcQtshuhu were closed. At the time witaestrdid not think that the matteTi was serfensi enough to be reported. steward was there' 3nd if he saw nothing aTwtft'the horse to take excep- j tioa'Jaj. it, wis; no .concern of witness, j , To,Wflononr/witness said he was j nof'ehijEfySd by the club, and really | t* n do with the racing. "' ||,(snffisiflgi'witnesß said to Mr Han*3f|n that' i* usually the racing plates Jmet*,fskak'ofE horses after racing and ppmlMryi Shoes substituted, he conI|pi4erei?thit it was little use trying pfto^find''the shoes at the boiling-down gff ttnis?. \ t , description, of a trotting tf. Tite^wir'then- evolved by wifness and [''.VtS&Stioa. Witness said the Otahuhu

"track jftj about half a mile round, and , ttojiena iad caught his field at the .. «ti#i.a circuit. Possibly four horses , *o»| in-front of him when he broke tness <*** no * support All ''* - a y because he yJMjjjf'fftr*? t» his race on the first day. ; h Tftraass considered it was bad judgif**«*im the part of All Smoke's rider up his ground so quickly in / Bfee'o«t the second day. Anafyst's Evidence. i|Ls'^jrt*M''Ma3sey ( ,Griffin,. Government "4£*jv*£ «* Auckland, said that on Feb•Zm& ** received from Detective >|JLiaght. three portions'of a black horse '&¥*• "^ B * Bnft d eopper in all three possibly in the shape of a sulr '•^tt 6 ° n tne bell y portion seemed {0 be in two distinct kS§SS V^ l "* B separated the layers the upper layer being second layer light brown. layer— the. black part—con- ~ four times as much copper '* tte Tower. The copper in the lower 'jfitaLF'taolv was due to indifferent > Ja witnesses opinion the "MftSai been treated with a dye con- " 1f23& ,aalt rf "PPe l "- D y ea usually Jprawl.-metaHie substances, usually - 2&£fc£ * black sulphate, namely copsilver, or lead. Two J|rcs-irf natural hide were supplied on There were no two discolour, and there were of copper. Treating the hide 2?|sHpuary »alt would not affect it. gone to the tannery and ,3[jy~:- wa ter and salt used there, no trace of copper in either. Hanlon, witness said he knew analyst. He would Parker wonld say there in the hide. Witness any black hair-dye. ''"'PSwSi-s* Bot sweaf that any P* re " : ?t F : a||ij^ eoa *4 aia g copper sulphate"ap/la^?* 1 ' 10186 ' 3 skin to 'ameliorate ifo&g???* 16 - not «anse the hair to 1 Donnelly: He did not think 1 ba d been treated for 'lS&t£* Bkni - It was hardly likelv be treated all over fo'r «E2? aSIL PersonaHy he thought hide. XN&, **netl's Story. gW Bennett B aid he had had a Mg"« , »aßd driver's license for eleven Islfrtt^lzf" 1 no record against him authorities. He had SKf?? up on the winning drivers' ie»nt seasona. He had driven at the Cnp Meeting for .Prior to the Otahuhu ll&It*;/.? 1 the November MeetRSk rt agton Ititee ". in, snop to enauire what races list was to start in on the W**& : F' H -Capes asked him if mri&J?" 1 * t0 An <*'and, and said Z™ 1 * s ° t0 All ckland he TMjZ! *£ a F ood sort of a horse he as the priee SB^f 2 ** Witae3s a ß ree d to go, '' l SfiS/?"8 t4 that steamer ''SatfJn* be left at Capes's shop. ' 'fStta * ticket and £5 train ~' #if c train witness received : '%m&%L%!£ 1 P*^ 3 ' aafcin g m» to *SEfctoeJ Cotcrioa Hotel at Otahnhn, lißfe*iL , £L£ 0 ont - Witness saw **** he thought witness ;^.^^£^ e ? lc aad with Wil"^i^'r 361 * at OtaSaOm. Wit?T *""* was in

Auckland until Capes told him. Witness saw Capes that night, and was told that the horse he was to drive was All Smoke. He did not know the horse at all. He asked Capes about him, and on looking at the race book and reading the breeding witness asked if All Smoke was one of Mr Kitchingham's breed. Witness also received the colours from Capes. Next day witness went to the track, but the races were postponed. Witness saw'Williamson at the course, and Capes at the Epsom post office. Witness told Capes he thought he would go home, but Capes said, "You might as well stay now you are here." Capes told him to say that if anyone asked him, witness was to say that he was engaged in Auckland. This was in order to obviate disagreement with Williamson, according to Capes, Williamson having brought the horse to Auckland. Witness first saw the horse in the box on the course, Capes being outside. Witness had his colours passed. Mr Donnelly: They" seem to be more fastidious about the racing colours than the eolour of the horse in Auckland. Witness said he saw the misprint in the racebook, and mentioned it to Capes. The horse was harnessed to the sulky when witness returned from the clerk of scales, and he took the horse to the birdcage. It was a black horse neatly bandaged in front. Witness had asked if he could drive the horse prior to the races, but Capes said Williamson had worked the horse fast that morning, and no more was wanted. He was told prior to the race that the horse was a hard puller. Witness did not back the horse, and he was to get only his percentage. In the race the horse broke a lot at times. If he had trotted steadily he would have won. Williamson took charge of tho horse after the race, and in. conversawith Capes and, Williamson it was agreed that the horse was a hard puller. The horse pulled up sore in front. Witness left Auckland that night, and left some of his gear for Williamson, receiving it back from W. P. Capes. The black horse in the courtyard was> not the one ho drove in Auckland. Later, witness saw Capes' in Christchurch, who said the horse was very sore after the second day, and he had been left in Kelsey's paddock in Auckland. .

Threat of Shooting. Later, witness was in Cape's's shop in order to collect some of his fees for driving Willie Lincoln at Cup time. Tucker, Williamson, and Hulston were present. Tucker said that the horse had been destroyed, having broken a bone in a leg, in the saddle race the second day. "If there wa s any dirty work going, I will blow your brains out for your trouble," said witness to Tucker. "I can get plenty of good horses to drive without those with something wrong with them./' He was told by Williamson that everything was all right, and there was nothing to worry about. Witness was going to the police station after the trouble commenced, and he met a man named Devereux. He had previously met this man going to Auckland. Here counsel for. the defence objected. * Witness agreed that in the Lower Court he had said he was engaged to drive All Smoke in Auckland, and that he was in Auckland for a holiday. The last statement was the truth. He did not tell the trnth to the Magistrate because he said what Capes told him -to say. He did not think there was any barm in it. He had not been in a Court before, and was flustered, and did not know what he was doing.

Cross-Examination.

Mr Hanlon: Did you remember tho Magistrate warning you, 'and urging you to tell the truthf •* "Witness: I remember Mr Bundle saying, something to me. Mr Hanlon: Were you so bustled you did not know you were telling lies! Will you tell the jury that! Witness: The last statement was the triith. Mr Hanlon: Then the statement to the Magistrate was untrue? Witness: Some of it was untrue. Mr Hanlon: You got frightened, and i thought you might get into trouble ; with the trotting authorities? .* Be : frank. Did you get into a funk that i you would be in trouble for perjury or I have '.your' license cancelled! His Honour: What induced you to - send your statement to Mr Donnelly t 1 Witness: After the case'! was worried, and went to a solicitor for advice. '"Mr Hanlon: The solicitor advised you to tell the truthl Witness: Yes. Mr Hanlon: In your statement you said you met Capesf Witness: That was a misprint. Mr Hanlon: Another' misprint, like tie xacebook. To Mr Hanlon, witness said that he had noticed an error in his statement which he had asked his solicitor to correct. Capes's name was in, but it should bave'been that of Devereux. "He had received s copy of his statement, and had noticed the error, and informed his solicitor. He had met JDevereur on the ferry boat, travelled to Auckland with him, and stayed with 'him. He also came home with Devereux. He had one or two bets, but none on All Smoke. He did not know what horse h£ was to drive, and Kaloon's name had not been mentioned. He did not know, what horse ho was to drive in.Auckland until told by Capes the night before the races. After tcV race the horse was taken to a closed box, and witness went over and went inside. He thought the door of/the box was open at the time. To Mr Thomas, witness said that he drove Willie Lincoln for Capes, after the conversation in Capes' 3 shop when shooting was mentioned. Other men were in the shop at-the time. He was sure Tucker had told him the horse had. been destroyed.

Not a Harness Horse. Frederick Jones, a horse-trainer, said he had known All Smoke for about two and a-half years. He had trained the horse for some months. He saw him run at Timaru in April, 1921. Witness did not race the hQfse. When he attempted to train the horse in harness he -kicked the cart to pieces. The horse bolted, and jumped a fence and on to a .stump of tree. This cut a foreleg leaving a permanent mark. Witness' with Chief-Detective Gibson, identified a horse in the Courtyard as All Smoke, and the horse had the mark on the leg. The horse had to be specially geared to be put into harness, and it would be a very risky business to race the horse in harness. The howe had to have his head checked unduly high to prevent him from kicking. Cross-examined by Mr Hanlon, witness said he did not know anything of the horse from April, 1 He did not think anyone could have improved the horse in harness. In his estimation he did not think it was possible to improve the horse, even in two years. Counsel attempted to ahake witness's identification of All Smoke, but witness stood to his guns, and said that he had made no mistake, and had picked out the horse without difficulty. ■ This statement was borne out by the Crown Prosecutor aad Chief-Detective Gibson, and his Honour was satisfied.

What Is a Good Horae? William Kelsey, a horse-trainer at Anekland, said he had sent his boy Fairley, for Blnewood on November 13th. On the second day of the Otahnhn Meeting witness met Williamson on the course, who aaked permission to put a hor3e in hi 3 (witnesa'a) paddock. At that time mtnesa had 10 or 12 horses

in the paddock. Ho had not seen "Williamson from that time until tho lower Court proceedings. About three weeks after the meeting Capes came to witness's house and said he had come for the horse Williamson had put in the paddock. Next day witness saw Capes with a black horse rugged. Capes asked for a feed, as he was going away by train. The horse was not lame. He had not arranged with, or shipped horses for, Williamson, Capes, or Tucker. Cross-examined by counsel, witness said .that if a horse pulled up lame it would be a wise thing to spell him. A horse might walk sound after three weeks, if he had not broken down too badly. Witness emphasised the last part. Witness saw Capes about a month before the meeting with Kaloon. Counsel: If yon 'saw a horße in a one and a-half mile race which broke about a dozen times, would you sav that was a good horse? Witness: I should say it was an erratic horse. Counsel: What would you think if yon had backed such a horse t Witness: It would make yon feel sick. Hero laughtor in the Court caused his Honour to warn the public that a further offence would result in the Court being cleared. Witness, in reply to counsel, stated that he was not prepared to say the hide in Court was from a trotting horse. He could not say that the horse in the Courtyard was the horse that was in hia paddock, because of the rug the horse wore that ■ time. To Mr Donnelly, witness said that Kaloon was not a thoroughly sound horse, although he might be sound enough to race.' Witness explained to his Honour how a trotting horse when over-driven went to a break. 'Herbert Florence Coyle said he leased the Epsom reserve, and let the grazing rights to Kelsey. On December 14th a man who gave his name as Tucker paid witness for grazing a horse. Witness identified Capes as tho man who called on him.

To Save Another. James McDonald, an upholsterer, residing at 28 Flockton street, St. Albans, said he was employed by Whitmore, whose shop adjoined that of Capes. He owned a horse named Wild Moa, but did not authorise its nomination for the Otahuhu meeting. Tho first witness knew of Wild Moa's nomination was when he received* All Smoke. Tucker had asked witness if he could turn out All 'Smoke for a week. All Smoke was taken from the home of a Mr Francis, in St. Albans street. Ho had not seen All Smoke before. Tucker had said he had a horse in a small class at Otahuhu, and he had used Wild Moa for bracketing purposes on the .totalisator. Tucker had asked witness to say that he trained the horse during October and November, and that he had received the horse again in December. This story was to be told to the Trotting Association, to save Tucker's license. Witness was also told to say the horse was lame in the front foot. Cross-examined -by counsel, witness said Tucker had told him the story ou the morning the detectives had taken the horse away. Gapes made out the registration for Wild Moa about September 27th, and witness signed it. Capes arranged for the officials of the Trotting Association to come and inspect Wild Moa. Capes paid the registration fee, and provident fees, although witness paid the moneys In reality. Capes was supplying the money. Witness had had All Smoke only an hour when the detectives camo for him. Witness did not know Wild Mol had been entered at Otahuhu. In September Tucker said Capes had a horse he wanted to race in Auckland in October, and that he wanted a horsa to eouple with it. Witness had agreed, but Capes did not come for the horse, and witness questioned him about it. Capes said he did not want the horse, and everything was finished. They thpn entered the horse without witness's authority at the Otahuhu meeting. He had not received tickets from the club receipt for £3 fo.» the -nomination of All Smoke and Wild Moa. - To Mr Thomas, witness said he did not remember Tucker, before the' Otahuhu meeting, telling him that he had a horse "going to the meeting. Mr Thomas asked if it was tho word "they,'' meaning Cape* and Williamson, or "he," meaning Tucker, had befen used by witness in .__ connexion with the bracketing of the horses. Witness said Tucker was the man who had asked witness to get the horse from Francis. Williamson had never spoke to witness about the horse." The dates in witness's,statement to the police were not correct. . At that, time witness did not know "there was" anything crook about the'business." When witness discovered the seriousnesg of the matter he corrected his statement.

Detectives' Evidence. Frederick John Beer, .detective, of Dnnedin, gave evidence of interviewing Williamson at Dunedin in January. Thomas Gibson, chief detective at Christchurch, said that oa January 9th, •1924, with Mr J, B. Norris, of the Trotting Association, he went to the home of the witness McDonald in Flockfon street, and when there he saw a black horse in "the paddock, which later he took possession of. From there they were to Capes' 3 shop, and there saw C. H. Capes. In reply to questions from the detective, Capes said: "1 was in Auckland with Williamson. We never had a horse destroyed. I have taken the advice of a solicitor, and he advised me not to sign anything. _ I do not own Kaloon. I never nominated All Smoke and Welcome Home at Auckland." The reason why Welcome Home was used was because that horse had been mentioned instead of Wild Moa. Immediately after leaving the shop witness saw-Tucker, who said: "All Smoke is my property. I ran him at the Otahuhu Meeting. Williamson took him there and raced him. Williamson did not bring him baek. He came back three weeks later, and I took him off the boat, I think, the Wahine. The horse was consigned to me. I nominated a horse called Wild Moa with All Smoke. I never heard of Welcome Home." Later Tucker brought a man named Deverenx down to identify. All Bmoke, but witness said he was satisfied about the howe. The witnesses Pees, Wilson, Jones, and Kelsey identified the horse in the Courtyard. To Mr Hanlon, witness said that he had heard the Trotting Association had a man at Lyttelton to check and coming and going of horses, but he thought ,it was a recent innovation. . Enquiries were made at Wellington about Capes a shipping horses. He'had made somel enauiriea in Christchurch, but found that accused had made arrangement for one horse. The other horse had been arranged for by J. Bryce. Witness knew Kaloon was in Christchurch and had broken down. He had enquired in Wellington from the man HardwicK. and found that a horae bad been sent from Auckland to Tucker, care 01 Hardwick. Hardwick could not say what horse it was, or whether it was the same horse that went up to Auckland that, came back again.

The Association's ClerkWilliam Henry ***^ b V%l? ?<? office of the Xew Zealand TwttiflgAsBoeiation, said that the ahowed that All Smoke was P«chM» b ? £ Tucker oa October 26th, 1923. The horse had -started and been «pW only once in the years 1921, 1922, and IKS. The nomination for tfae_ Otenahn Meeting of All Smoke and Wild Xoa

was made out in the handwriting of C. H. Capes. Witness, knew Capes's writing. To Mr Hanlon, witness said there was a representative of the Association at Lyttelton. This man did not report on local horseß, only on imported horses, thereforo ho did not take any notice of All Smoke. Tho official might report ..on certain other horses, but he was hot certain. Local' trotting horses might be shipped about New Zealand, and although the official might note the movements he would not report thom. To Mr Donnelly, witness said that the information on transfer forms was supplied by the people interested. This concluded the case for the Crown. No witnesses were called for the defence.

Crown Prosecutor's Address. In his address to the jury, Mr Donnelly said the only evidence put for'ward was that for the Crown, and the only evidence for the accused would be a criticism by counsel of the evidence for the Crown. It was a great satisfaction to know that accused's case would be presented by counsel of the greatestability, Mr Hanlon being acknowledged to be the most eloquent speaker at the Bar in New Zealand. The jury would find that in the unassailable features of the Crown counsel would refrain from criticism. The sole-point for consideration was: "Was the horse All Smoke, or was it a fraudulent substitute put in to take down the racing competitors and the public?" The jury must not be allowed to be sidetracked. The first Crown witness had been examined and derided by: counsel to the jury on very small points, but the main part of the evidence was not attacked. The fact for the jury to decide was not: "Did the accused get past stewards, stipendiary stewards, and officials with their swindle?" but, "Did they get away with it altogether?" Tho second witness; Wilson, had also been cross-questioned on minor points, and only whether the officers at Auckland had hecn slack or not " Thc fact that, the officials at Auckland were Black and let this, swindle get past them had nothing to do with the point at issue. Tho irregularity in that instance was an unusual one. an d .** would not strike an ordinary official that anyone would be brazen enough to perpetrate such a swindle; The fact that what was really a black gelding by some mischance was described as a bay gelding in the racebook, showed the great courage of the accused in going on with their scheme. What their feelings were when they discovered the error in- the book could be imagined. In regard to the hide, counsel for the defence had .made no attempt to attack tho evidence'of,Pecs, and Brownlee, who had given their evidence, so clearly. Evidence which was proved beyond doubt was that the hide of the horse that ran as All Smoke was on the floor of the Court. The jury should listen carefully for Mr Hanlon's explanation of the hide. The real All Smoke was' still in the rear of the Court, andjurors would be advised to approach him from his head, as he still showed a dislike for anyone approaching from the rear, possibly to attach a sulky. With regard to the point that be raised that the accused had taken the long way round to the boilingdown works, that was no doubt due to a desire for a quiet route. Further, where did the accused, get the horse, the black horse that had broken down in the off foreleg, which accused took to the boiling-down works," if it was not the horße that raced as AH Smoke? Qualified witnesses had said' without doubt that the hide in Court was the actual hide, and no mistake had been made as would be alleged by counsel. The analyst 's evidence, a Government official, was also conclusive. If the other' analyst mentioned in: , evidence was reliable, counsel for. the defence would have produced him, but they had failed to put him in the witness-box. TJhe jurors did not want an analyst's evidence, however, to know thnt tho hide was dyed; it was only a matter, of sight and common sense. The case was a simple one. Tho case could be divided into three parts: (1) The history of the real All Smoke and his objection to harness; (2) the acts and. conduct of Williamson and Capes from the time they left Christehurch' to tho time the horse was taken to the boil-ing-down works; and (3) the acts and conduct of the accused after their re : turn to" Christehurch. With regard to Bennett'B evidence, counsel'would say it was the lying evidence of a dishonest man, and should be disregarded altogether Bennett's evidence, anyway, did not help the Crown a great deal, but it filled up some of . the cracks. Bennett was especially selected, and he was taken down by accused the same as were the general public. Bennett s evidence was true because it was borne out by other evidence. . The offence of ringing-in was a grave one, with no extenuating feature, a mean and shameful typo of fraud.

The Case for the Defence. Mr Hanlon, in addressing the jury, said he did not mean- to/try to carry them away with any flights of rhetoric, as suggested by the Crown Prosecutor. The latter had taken practically two and three-quarter hours to impress the few points in his favour. The speaker said he understood, that it was no duty of the Crown to strain after a conviction, buif Mr Donnelly had been very fair in presenting hi 3 evidence. Also, he had summed up his case', fairly, if passionately. There were two charges of conspiracy, continued Mr Hanlon, and *two of false pretences. Of the first two, two or three of the men must be convicted, but on the charge of, false pretence's the men could be convicted singly. He was quite sure the jury would exclude any previous ideas it held, and depend only on the evi- r dence at .the present-proceedings. There; was no direct .evidence, and it was all circumstantial. To convict accuse'd it was essential that the set of circumstances should" be inconsistent with any other theory. It was not enough that some of the circumstances might be suspicious, but the chain of circumstances must be complete. The Crown Prosecutor had said that counsel had dodged the main issue of the case, but he considered it was the Crown who had dodged the issue. With regard to the witness Absolum, it was unlikely that the jury would ever hear such ] evidence again. j

The Stipendiary Stewards. The first hurdle the Crown had to geS over was tie fact that some unknown horse had been frib:<tituted for All Smoke. If it waa the truth that some horse was substituted for All Smoke, then, where were the stipendiary stewards! What were they doing that they did not see the brown rings and brown muzzle? What did the3e two officials say about it? Did they see this horae? Had the;/ been approached? Those men if they knew their business would have instituted an enquiry on the spot, yet they allowed a bay gelding to go out and take part in the race when the racebook described it aa a black. •

"The Birdcage Artist." The jurors had the right to say that they would demand from the Crown some direct testimony from the stipendiary stewards, that a wrong boree had been introduced. A glance at the book and horse would have bowled out the men. Ytit two stipendiary stewards and twelve or fifteen honorary stewards failed to notice that remarkable coincidence. However, the sti-pendiary-Stewards were kept afar off, and the jury had the evidence of Mr Wilson, "the birdcage artist," ia-

stead. There was a beautiful witness* who had confessed that he did not know quite what happened in the race. In addition, this man had noticed some' strange circumstances and had failed to report them.... Otherwise, he might not have seen anything, but had given evidence from what he had heard afterwards. This man wa* the' ' Sherlock Holmes" that had discovered the chemist Smith, who had sold a large quantity of dye about the time. Yet the Crown had failed to produce Mr Smith as its witness. The observant witness, Pees, had not mentioned one word about the brown muzzle and brown-, ringed eyes. Detective Knight was a most amusing witness. Ho had- attempted to describe a trotting rneo as it was usually run. The detective had' noticed tho peculiarities of All Smoke, he backed it, he noticed it eame in lame, ho saw it next day again, and yet he did not report it s peculiarities to anvbody in authority. The Crown had failed to get the correct witnesses, the stipendiary steward's, and had depended on the 'witnesses Pees, Wilson, and Knight, the detective'.

"A Matter of Time." " With regard to tho quality of All Smoke, the race in Auckland was not a remarkable performance, the time'for the race being 3min 45 2-ssec for one and a half miles, a 2min 30sec gait to the mile. Then, agaih, tliero had been the conflicting evidence of Wilson and Knight as to All Smoke's performance oil the 'second day aip t.o the time the horse broko down. And with regard to the betting, was it reasonable to believe that tho accused would back" the horse down to a £4 dividend? They could have got a £7 10a limit from the bookmakers, and with a smaller sum' of money they could have obtained as much money off the toalisator. Obviously, the public must have backed the horso, too. The outside prico on the second day was due to tho soreness of tho horse. Even the astuto detective noticed that, and stood -off after backing tho horso tho first day. There was nothing, therefore, to bo adduced out of tho betting as evidence against the accused. With rogard to Jones's evidence, it was of no value because, hig experience of tho horse was in 1921, not 19231. In the interim the horse could have been improved very considerably. Witnesses had been dragged from all parts of the Dominion to provo the horse in the' Courtyard wa s All Smoke. The defence admitted it was All .Smoke".

"A Tissue of Lies." *. ' Bennett was put up as a witness of truth, yet in his own terms he wag a self-conyicted perjurer, said Mr Hanlon. His ovidonce was a tissue of lies in the lower Court. Could the jury believe the evidence of snch a man? Yet even in his latest statement he had to admit he had made a mistake. When he made his last statement he had told an untruth. A man who told a tissue of lie's to a Magistrate was not to'be believed, and was more than stupid. McDonald was another who could not tell the truth. The Crown Prosecutor had produced an unusually large number of lying witnesses, A witness of. that sort would say that as tho teen were in the -dock y it was easy~io put things on to them. A witness of that sort would say one of those men in the dock had told him to toll Bnch-and- ; such a story. Could any jury convict on the testimony of such a pack of witnesses produced by the Crown? The Crown Prosecutor had tried to-win his case by all his eloquence, and it was no wonder with such a tribe.of witnesses.

The Hide. With regard to thff Mlling of. the horse, there was only one witnoas to identify Williamson, and the identification had not been done in,the orthodox way. Then the jury was asked to be-, lieve that the hide was a dyed.one. Then the men were seen only 7G yards from the hotel with the lamo horse when it was' alleged they wero on their way to the boiling-down works. There was too much doubt about all the evidence. None of • the witnesses hod stood the test, and others had # broken down, "•■..•,;.

The Fact? of the Defence. \. . The undisputed facts of the cose were that -two horses were nominated. Wild Moa and All Smoke. Bluewood and All Smoke went up to Auckland. This was the theory y>fcounsel. At Ota:'' huhu the horso in the box ; was All Smoke. That horse raced and broke, down, was put in Kolsey's paddock, and three weeks later it was taken back to Ohristchurch and found by Detective Gibson in McDonald's paddock. The one thing for the jury to consider -was that the Crown said an unknown horses ran as All Smoke, but it Was required to be proved whero did the men get AH Smoke! Why were not ! the stipendiary stewards brought along, I the men who know all the horses in the country? Mr Hanlon's address I lasted for 75 minutes. Mr Thomas's' Address.

Mr Thomas said that the only clear facts in regard to Tucker were: (1) He was the owner of All Smoke; (2) AH Smoke was entered at Otahuhu; (3) the management of the horse had been left to Capes and Williamson? (4) All Smoke went to> Auckland, was placed in Kelsey's paddook, and returned to McDonald's, paddock. If the ringingin did occur, did Tucker here anything to do with it? Directly the evidence was held up the case against Tucker was seen to bo inherently weak. The first point, that as Tucker was the owner jof All Smoke, he must, have been in the swindle. Mr-Thomas argued that while'the horse was out of Tucker's possession he was not responsible. With regard to the nomination form, it was written out by Capes, not Tucker. Coming" to Wild Moa, Tucker did not make any statement, and according to the evideneo Tucker had nothing to do with it. On the contrary, McDonald must have known all about it, and was trying to throw all the responsibility on to Tucker. With regard to the unclaimed prize, Tucker could not take action because there was a law which prohibited his taking civil action for a prize won at sports. With regard to the receipt for grazing Tucker, although his. name was used, had nothing to do with it. In reference to the taking delivery of tho horse, there had been some irregularity with the nomination form, and it was reasonable to expect that Tucker would endeavour to protect himself. Tucker had the "wind up" about the Trotting Association, and he had asked ' McDonald to stand by him. With regard to Bennett's evidence as it applied to Tucker,- no weight could bo put on it, aa it was obviously a lying story. The venturo to Auckland was a proper one, and the Crown had i« prove it otherwise. At/ this stage Mr Thomas complained that his throat had gone ami3S, and his Honour adjourned proceedings to 10.15 this morning.